Office address: 1285 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019
Website: ubs.com/us
Year established: 1862
Company type: financial services
Employees: 110,300+
Expertise: wealth management, investment banking, asset management, retirement planning, alternative investments, sustainable investing, corporate solutions, financial planning, risk management, capital markets
Parent company: UBS Group AG (Switzerland)
Key people: Sergio Ermotti (group CEO); Robert Karofsky, George Athanasopoulos, and Marco Valla (co-presidents); Aleksandar Ivanovic (president); Mike Dargan (group chief operations and technology officer); Todd Tuckner (group CFO)
Financing status: corporation
UBS is a leading global bank that specializes in serving high-net-worth clients and institutions. The company manages $6.6 trillion in invested assets and offers tailored financial advice and solutions to individuals, families, and institutions. Its US operations are headquartered in New York.
UBS traces its beginnings to 1862 in Switzerland, when Bank in Winterthur was created to help local business and manage a warehouse. Fifty years later, a merger with Toggenburger Bank formed Union Bank of Switzerland, which quickly grew its network and services across the country.
Swiss Bank Corporation, known as SBC, formed from several mergers in the late 1800s and soon set its sights beyond Switzerland. By 1898, SBC had opened a branch in London, showing its global ambitions.
Both Union Bank of Switzerland and SBC embraced new technology, such as adding machines and early computers. They also opened offices in major financial centers like New York, Tokyo, and Rio de Janeiro.
A turning point came in 1998, when Union Bank of Switzerland and SBC joined forces to create UBS. This merger brought together expertise in various areas which made UBS one of the world’s largest financial institutions.
In 2000, the company entered the US market in a big way by acquiring PaineWebber, an American brokerage and asset manager. This gave the firm a strong presence in New York and across the country.
The company continued to grow, even through financial crises, and expanded its digital banking services worldwide. In 2023, it acquired Credit Suisse which strengthened its role as Switzerland’s largest universal bank.
By 2025, UBS increased checks on client money sources in Asia after a money-laundering scandal. The firm worked with Deloitte and KPMG and closed thousands of smaller accounts.
The firm combines deep market knowledge with access to both traditional and alternative investments. UBS's investment offerings include:
UBS is also known for its strong digital platforms and global network. Clients benefit from disciplined risk management and a wide selection of investment choices.
UBS states that its culture is the foundation for how the company works and adapts to change. The firm’s “three keys” represent the main values and guide daily actions:
UBS aims to create a supportive and flexible work environment for all employees. According to the company, its benefits are designed to help staff balance work and personal life:
UBS also offers regional programs to help employees manage work and family commitments. The company reports that it provides benefits that often go beyond legal requirements.
Sergio P. Ermotti serves as group CEO of UBS Group AG and has been leading the executive board since 2023. Before this, Ermotti led the company from 2011 to 2020 and served as chair at Swiss Re. He also held senior roles at UniCredit Group and Merrill Lynch. He completed advanced management training at the University of Oxford.
The UBS Group Executive Board leads the company’s global operations and oversees key business areas:
UBS Group AG uses a dual board structure as required by Swiss law. The board of directors delegates business management to the executive board.
In 2025, UBS experts shared practical strategies for family wealth conversations, focusing on values, legacy, and open communication. Judy Spalthoff and Libby Stantial explained how purposeful dialogue and programs like Emerging Successors help families prepare future inheritors. Their advice supports clients in building trust and guiding responsible wealth transitions across generations.
UBS leaders like Adrian Zuercher have also highlighted how new clients, especially younger generations and women, are driving demand for ESG and sustainable solutions. The company sees this shift as a sign that stewardship and responsible investing will play a bigger role in its future, as clients look for more return drivers and long-term value.
The wirehouse reported strong results, but also disclosed a significant hit from trading losses after the implosion of the family office and hedge fund Archegos Capital Management.
The president's tax package could take aim at a long list of sometimes obscure deductions, exclusions and loopholes that are favorites of the 0.1%.
Like Morgan Stanley, UBS kept its investors in the dark for weeks about the size of the losses it incurred in the collapse of Bill Hwang's family office.
For years, Wells Fargo Advisors has touted its in-house investment management and planning platform for clients and advisers, called Envision. Now, it is introducing the outside eMoney Advisor.
The insurer recently won a long-running case brought by several brokers, though it is fighting several other suits from broker-dealers.
The past year has exposed a stark divergence in the investment behavior of millennial investors compared with their older counterparts. A huge generational transfer of wealth, at roughly $68 trillion, is poised to fall into the hands of the millennials.
Lisa Quadrini moves to Brandywine Oak Private Wealth in suburban Philadelphia.
UBS has been hit with a rash of arbitration claims over strategies investors say damaged them, and most recently it saw a wave of investor complaints over Puerto Rico bonds and bond funds.
Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines — both headquartered in Atlanta — have come out against the bill, as have many other corporations. That has drawn backlash from Republican lawmakers, including U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
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The two asset management giants were among 43 firms with more than $22.8 trillion of assets that signed onto the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative.
The company's announcement that it was slashing fees on two of its bond funds came just a day after BlackRock lowered fees on its lineup of style ETFs.
Merrill’s digital advice platform, which launched in 2017, originally had a minimum investment of $5,000.
